U.S.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke formally
resigned today and was sworn-in by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as
the next U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. Dr.
Rebecca M. Blank, Acting Deputy Secretary of the Commerce Department, will
serve as Acting Commerce Secretary. Blank has served as Acting Deputy Secretary
since November 2010.

“It
has been the honor of a lifetime serving as Commerce Secretary for President
Obama. I’m proud of the men and women with whom I had the privilege to
work and the tremendous accomplishments we’ve made together in the last 28
months,” Ambassador Locke said.

“From increasing U.S. exports and reducing patent application wait times, to
creating the foundation for a national smart grid and taking an important first
step to reform the export control system, we have helped create jobs, lay the
foundation for future economic growth and made American companies more
innovative at home and more competitive abroad. And we did all of this while
making the Commerce Department more efficient and responsive to its
stakeholders," Locke noted, citing the 2010 Census in particular.

Under
Locke’s leadership, the Commerce Department also reduced the average time
needed to award a competitive economic development grant from 140 days to 20
days; streamlined Department business services through the Commerce Connect
one-stop shop initiative; efficiently distributed nearly $5 billion in Recovery
Act funds for broadband development in under 18 months, which helped create
more than 120,000 miles of broadband infrastructure; and, oversaw a significant
first step in the President’s export control reform effort, which strengthens our national security, while
making U.S. companies more competitive by easing their licensing burden for
exports to partners and allies.